Watch: Masaaki Yuasa Returns with Devilman Crybaby

One of the most vibrant voices in the world of Japanese animation is Masaaki Yuasa. The director already has several all-time great anime series to his name, including the beloved Ping Pong The Animation and the criminally under-seen The Tatami Galaxy.

Yuasa is back with a new series, and like his best previous works, it’s an adaptation of a manga. According to Anime News Network, Go Nagai’s manga series Devilman is the source this time. As you can see in the teaser trailer below, this marks a slightly darker (and bloodier) tone for Yuasa than his other recent efforts.

It’s the story of Akira Fudo, who merges with a demon to become Devilman, a “being with the power of a demon and the heart of a human.” It feels like it’s been a while since the last great gods/demons/religion-based anime series, so hopefully this will be a fresh, welcome revival of that genre.

Devilman Crybaby, as the anime series will be called, will also be a Netflix Original Series. Netflix has been expanding its original anime offerings, which now include Knights of Sidonia, AJIN: Demi-Human, The Seven Deadly Sins, and Kuromukuro, among others.

The series won’t premiere until next year, unfortunately, so for the time being we’ll have to make do with this brief teaser. Or, might I suggest, go and watch The Tatami Galaxy? It’s a visually spectacular and heartwarming series that is one of fiction’s best translations of the indecision of young adulthood (and as you may be able to tell, one of my favorite series of all time.)